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system, and when constructed after 1st day of June, 1856,
under the order of a Vestry or District Board, or when constructed
before the 1st day of June, 1856, pursuant to the
order and direction, or with the sanction and approval of,
the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers.
Therefore, to prove that a "sewer" is a "drain" within
the meaning of the Act, it is necessary that evidence be
produced that such sewer was constructed under the order
of the Vestry, or under the order or approval of the Commissioners
of Sewers.
Consequently, when no evidence of such order or
approval is forthcoming, a channel that conveys sewage,
waste or surface water from two houses or more is a
"sewer" within the meaning of the Act, and whether
situated on private or public property, its ownership is in
the Vestry, and its maintenance and repair are the concerns
of the Vestry.
Recommendations. That the list specifying cases of
drainage constructed under the order of the Vestry, or
under the order or direction or with the sanction or approval
of the Commissioners of Sewers, be made as complete as
the records preserved at the office and elsewhere will permit,
and that an index arranged alphabetically be prepared,
affording means for the identification of property, the name
and description of which has undergone change.
That the Vestry be advised to recognise its position and
responsibility in cases of defective sewers, when, after
search of the records has been made, no evidence of order
or sanction is traceable.
Since owners of property have, from time to time, illegally
conducted operations of combined drainage without the
knowledge, order, or sanction of the Vestry, and have, by